German, Polish Leaders Get Cozy

They call each other “dear.” They have family roots in the same Baltic Sea-coast city and their warm relationship is helping strengthen ties between two of Europe’s formerly bitter enemies.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Polish counterpart, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, have bonded over their shared heritage. It’s a relationship that some have suggested could make Poland the partner for Germany to turn to if France or Britain, it’s more usual European allies, refuse to give backing to Berlin’s ideas.

Poland is one of Germany’s largest trading partners and is well integrated into its industrial fabric. Their business cultures are steadily converging, said Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who in 2011 urged Germany to take a stronger leadership role in Europe and save the euro.

Poland’s voting weight on the European Union’s key governing bodies will be almost on a par with France until 2017, when new voting rules come into effect. Meanwhile its political clout is increasing in parallel with its economic growth. After 2017, when voting will reflect the population weight of EU countries, Poland will remain one of the top six decision makers in the 27-nation union.

On the down side, Berlin is the EU’s biggest contributor of cash for poorer regions and Warsaw its largest recipient, which put the two countries at odds during last year’s EU budget negotiations. And despite all the friendliness, Poland watched powerlessly as Ms. Merkel and then-president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, inaugurated the Nord Stream gas pipeline that runs across the Baltic Sea and circumvents Polish territory.

Personal ties, however, between German and Polish leaders have rarely been as cordial as they are now between Ms. Merkel and Mr. Tusk. Their mothers were both born in Gdansk, known as Danzig before 1945. A biography of the German chancellor published this month gave details of her Polish ancestry and distant relatives.